Circular fluorescent lighting apparatus to replace an incandescent lamp in stand lamps



Dec. 18, 1951 Q WALTER 2,579,026

CIRCULAR FLUORESCENT LIGHTING APPARATUS TO REPLACE AN INCANDESCENT LAMPIN STAND LAMPS Filed July 30, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

Garf'yle .D. Walier Patented Dec. 18, 1951 CIRCULAR FLUORESCENT.-LIGHTING AP- PARATUS TO REPLACE AN INCANDES CEN LAMP IN STAND LAMPCarlyle D. Walter, Porter County, Ind. Application July 30,1949, SerialNo. 107,745 Claims, (Cl. 240--51 .12)

This invention relates to, improvements in fluorescent lightingapparatus.

One object of theinvention is to provide a fluorescent lighting unitthat can be substituted readily for an incandescent lamp and associatedreflector of conventional floor or table lamps which will provide bothdirect and indirect lighting from a single fluorescent tube.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fluorescent lightingunit comprising a shell or casing for supporting acircularfluorescenttube and constitutes a housing or enclosure for the necessary ballast,wiring or thelike."

An additionalobject of the invention is to pro; vide a shell-likesupport for a fluorescent tube of circular form and whichfpref'erably isprovided with upper and lower reflecting surfaces, the shell beingformed of two parts medially separable in the plane of the tube andenabling the lower part of the unit to be substituted readily forasimilar part diiferently dimensioned at the lower end for seating in aparticular supporting seat or cup designed for supporting a reflectorbowl.

By means of the present improvements, as will appear more fullyhereinafter, the improved unit makes possible the ready conversion of anincandescent floor or table lamp into a fluorescent lamp without specialtools and enabling the use on the unit of the usual shade if desired.

Gther objects of the invention relate to various features ofconstruction and parts which will be apparent from a consideration ofthe following specification and accompanying. drawings wherem:

Figure l is broken side elevation oif a fluorescent lighting unitembodying the present improvements.

Fig. 2 is a Fig/1.

Fig. 3 is a broken side elevational view of a conventional floorlamp'which has been modified by substitution of the improved fluorescentlighting unit for a usual indirect light incandescent plane view of theunits shown in lamp and as associated reflector bow Fig. l is a sideelevation of a lower section of the shell of the fluorescentlighting'unit which is provided at its lower end with acircumferencedifferent from the shell shown in Fig.

In 3 of the drawings, a fluorescent lamp is shown comprising a base It,a standard H," the upper end of which carries a shell-like switchhousing i2. extending from which are arms l3 which support incandescentlamps It in candelabra efiect. Generally a switch I5, of the s lectivetype is m l y d for. controllin th lighting of the lamps [4, usuallythree in number.

Above the member 12. is a cup-like member [6 which in an ordinaryincandescent lamp structure containsa screw socket ll for receiving avertically arranged incandescent lamp of the multiple filament type andincludes a seat or holder it that supports also a reflector bowl whichdirects the light from the lamp upwardly toward the ceiling forproducing an indirect lighting effect.

-3 h a e e a n an wc nt amp andthe reflector referred to havebeendiscarded and e en lighting unit embody n t present improvements hasbeen substituted thereat." This unit, shown in detached relation in iwere a p r shell Po tion hat flares outwardlyfrom topto bottom and alower shell portion'lq thatflares outwardly from the. bottom to the top.The shell portions [9 and 20 preferably are generallybonoidal inforrnarl d have concave exteriorsurifaces as shown These shell portionspreferably" are made of metal having exterior polished or reflectingsurfaces. As indicated in Fig. l the shell portion. I0 is provided witha perimetricaldepending flange tl which telescopically receives anupstanding peri metrical flange 22 of thesection 20L 'These sec tionsmay be secured together by meansof screws 23, two of which are shown inFig. 2. l

The shell section 19 supports a ballast 24 which may be secured inplaceby rivets 25 or the like, which attach to the inner side of theshell the clips 26 with which the ballast is provided for supportingpurposes. Likewise, the shell section [9 may be provided with anautomatic starter 21. Since such starters not infrequently requirereplacement, the starter 2's preferably is mounted in a suitable support28 that permits convenient replacement of the starter. The ballast andstarter are. of well-known construction and per se form no part of thepresent invention. The upper end ofthe shell section [9 preferably isprovided with a threaded stud 29 for removably supporting a finial 35 bymeans of which a conventional lamp shade, indicated at 30a in Fig; 3,may be attached to the lighting unit.

The lower section 20 of the shell is shown as being provided with aplurality of flexible spring clips 3| extending generally radially fromthe outer periphery of the shell and having upwardly disposed springclipportions 32 for supporting a conventional circular fluorescent tube33. The lower end of the shell section 20 is provided. with a grooveZiia into which the retaining screws I8a of the seat It project forsecuring the unit in position in the seat.

Qircular fluorescent tubes of the t pe shown are of known constructionand need not be particularly described herein. Such tubes generally areprovided at their adjacent ends with a member 34 which electricallyconnects terminals 35, 36, 31 and 38 of the tube ends to socketterminals provided in the inner periphery thereof whereby a plug 39 ofknown form attached to four tube input wires 40, 4|,.42 and 43 may beelectrically connected to the terminals of the tube. The wiring circuitsof such fluorescent lamps, ballast and the automatic starters, arewell-known and while the circuit is indicated generally in Fig. 2 itneed not be specifically described.

For the purpose of supplying current to the ballast, input conductors 44and 45 are connected to appropriate terminals on the ballast and to thecontacts of a conventional receptacle plug 46. Plug 46 is adapted to beplugged into a screw type adapter plug 41 of conventional form which isscrewed into the socket IT. The usual switch 48 designed for control ofthe discarded incandescent lamp can be utilized for controlling thelighting of the fluorescent tube 33. The structure described above notonly provides for the convenient installation of a circulan fluorescenttube on the unit, but permits replacement of the tube when necessary,since the spring arms 3! and the holding clips 32 enable the tube to bereadily removed from the unit after plug 39 has been withdrawn from itssocket in number 34.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings I have shown a lower shell section 20' whichin all respects corresponds to section 20 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 exceptthat the lower end thereof is of a reduced diameter to enable. a unitprovided with the shell 2!! to be mounted in the seat of a cup similarto cup l 6 of Fig. 1 of a different diameter. Hence, lower shellsections can be provided to seat in reflector supports of differentsizes but having upper ends that cooperate with the upper shell sectionof a given or standard size.

By utilizing a two-part shell of the form shown, the unit can be readilysubstituted for a lamp and reflector bowl of the conventionalincandescent floor or table lamp as above mentioned. The spring arms 3|and flexible clips 32 support the fluorescent tube 33 preferably in theplane of the telescopic ends of the shell sections whereby some of thelight emitted by the tube will be reflected upwardly by the reflectingsurface of section l9 to provide an indirect lighting effect and somewill be reflected downwardly by the curved reflecting surface of thelower shell section 26 for direct lighting effect. Since the ballastwith the necessary wiring is attached to the upper shell section, theunit can be adapted to seats of different di ameter merely by equippinga unit with a lower shell section having a lower end of the appro priatediameter.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my improvements,it will be apparent that various changes in details may be resorted towithout departure from the spirit of the invention defined by theappended claims.

I claim;

1'. A fluorescent lighting unit for use in an incandescent floor ortable lamp structure comprising a shell consisting of separable upperand lower sections, the upper section flaring outwardly from top tobottom and terminating at the lower end in a depending flange and thelower section flaring outwardly from bottom to top and terminating atthe upper end in an upstanding flange arranged for telescopic engagementwith the flangeof the top section, said sections 1310;.

viding a casing for housing a ballast for a fluorescent tube and havingexterior light reflecting surfaces, said lower section being shaped forseating in a reflector support in a lamp structure and being open foraccommodating means electrically connecting the ballast to a lamp socketof the structure, one of said sections being provided with flexiblesupporting clips located outwardly of the respective flange, and acircular fluorescent lamp releasably supported by said clips in aposition encircling the shell adjacent said flanges and beingelectrically connected to the ballast, the relation of said reflectingsurfaces to the fluorescent lamp being such that some of the light raysfrom the lamp are reflected upwardly by the upper reflecting surface andsome reflected downwardly by the lower reflecting surface to provideboth direct and indirect lighting effects.

2. A fluorescent lighting unit for use in an incandescent floor or tablelamp structure comprising a shell consisting of separable upper andlower sections telescopically interengaging at substantially the medianplane of the shells, the

upper section flaring outwardly from the top to bottom and provided witha shade support at the upper end, said lower section flaring outwardlyfrom the'bottom to the upper end, a ballast for a fluorescent lampwithin the shell and secured to one of said sections and provided withan outlet plug adapted to be electrically connected to an outlet adaptorwithin an incandescent lamp socket of the lamp structure and a secondplug adapted for connecting the ballast to a fluorescent lamp, the lowerend of said lower section being shaped to flt within and to be securedto a reflector bowl-support for supporting the shell, and a plurality offlexible clips secured to one of said sections of the shell andreleasably supporting afluorescent lamp surrounding the shell insubstantially the plane of the interengaged portions of the shell fordirecting rays of light to the exterior flaring surfaces of bothsections of the shell.

. 3. A fluorescent lighting unit for use in a conventional incandescentlamp structure having a cup-like enclosure for a vertical lamp socketand providing a reflector bowl support, said unit comprising a shellconsisting of an upper and a lower section, the upper section flaringoutwardly from top to bottom to a portion of maximum diameter and thelower section having an open bottom end arranged to seat in and to besecured within a said reflector bowl support and flaring cutwardly fromthe lower to the upper end and tar minating in a portion of maximumdiameter adapted for telescopic engagement with the lower portion of theupper shell section, a ballast for a fluorescent lamp secured withinsaid upper section and provided with electrical input conductorsadaptedto extend through said open bottom of the lower shell section andprovided with a receptacle plug adapted for electrical connection withinsaid lamp socket, said ballast being provided with out-put conductorsextending from said shell and provided with a plug for effectingelectrical connections with a fluorescent lamp, a plurality of lampsupporting members secured to one of said sections adjacent the portionof maximum diameter and terminating in resilient clipsadapted to engagea circular fluorescent lampdisposed about the portions of the shells ofmaximum diameter, and a circular fluorescent lamp removably supported bysaid clips and electrically connected to the ballast by said secondmentioned plug. 7

4. A fluorescent lighting unit comprising a shell consisting of upperand lower sections provided with telescopic flanges detachably securingsaid sections together, said sections having exterior reflecting concavesurfaces convergent toward the upper and lower ends of the upper andlower sections respectively and presenting a median portion of maximumdiameter, a circular fluorescent lamp surrounding said median portion inspaced relation with respect thereto and adapted to direct rays of lightupon said upper and lower reflecting surfaces for reflection incorresponding directions to provide indirect and direct lighting efiectsrespectively, and means carried by the shell for releasably supportingsaid lamp in said relation with respect to the shell.

5. A fluorescent lighting unit comprising a shell consisting of upperand lower sections provided with telescopic flanges releasably securingthe sections together, said sections having exterior reflecting concavesurfaces convergent toward the upper and lower ends of the upper andlower sections respectively, and providing a median portion of maximumdiameter in the plane of said flanges, said lower section being open atthe bottom and provided at said end with means for mounting the shell ina support, a ballast for a fluorescent lamp mounted within one of saidsections and having a conductor adapted to extend through said openlower end for connection to a source of current, a plurality ofresilient supporting members extending radially from said shell andcomprising spring clips disposed in the plane of said median portion ofthe shell for supporting a circular fluorescent tube in said plane andsurrounding said median portion of the shell whereby light rays from thetube impinge both said reflecting surfaces for reflection upwardly anddownwardly to provide both indirect and direct lighting effects, and acircular fluorescent tube supported by said clips and electricallyconnected to said ballast.

CARLYLE D. WALTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,437,569 Van Amberg et a1. Mar.9, 1948 2,472,597 Levy June 7, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date319,120 Germany Oct. 25, 1918

